City of Lies
A Poison War Novel
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4.2 • 18 Ratings
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- $12.99
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- $12.99
Publisher Description
WINNER of the Ditmar Awards for Best Novel and Best New Talent, the Norma K Hemming Award, and the Aurealis Award for Best Fantasy Novel!
Poison. Treachery. Ancient spirits. Sieges. The Poison Wars begin now, with City of Lies, a fabulous epic fantasy debut by Sam Hawke
I was seven years old the first time my uncle poisoned me...
Outwardly, Jovan is the lifelong friend of the Chancellor’s charming, irresponsible Heir. Quiet. Forgettable. In secret, he's a master of poisons and chemicals, trained to protect the Chancellor’s family from treachery. When the Chancellor succumbs to an unknown poison and an army lays siege to the city, Jovan and his sister Kalina must protect the Heir and save their city-state.
But treachery lurks in every corner, and the ancient spirits of the land are rising...and angry.
At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Australian author Hawke launches her Poison War epic fantasy series with this exhaustive and imaginative expos of capitalistic corruption. Wealthy, cultured Silasta, the Bright City, is threatened from without and within. It's under siege by the downtrodden and vengeance-bent workers called earthers, whose exploited labors have sustained it, while it rots within from one betrayal after another among its privileged families and members of the guilds. Jovan is an apprentice secret proofer, someone who tests for toxins (often being poisoned himself in the process) and develops their antidotes. He's devoted to protecting Tain, Silasta's politically naive new chancellor, from the poisoner who killed Jovan and Tain's uncles. Jovan's sister, Kalina, too physically frail to proof, has espionage skills that prove crucial to the city's survival. Hawke's often violent and always detail-oriented narrative dwells heavily on episodes of the protracted siege as the springboard for political commentary, chiefly through Tain's experiences of growing into maturity as a humane man and pragmatic ruler. This colorful and exciting tale occasionally stretches the limits of belief, but fantasy fans will still enjoy it and eagerly anticipate its coming sequel.
